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  • 1.  cleaning sandstone gravestones

    Posted 04-13-2021 10:19 AM



    Hello all,

    Does anyone have experience with the cleaning and repair of sandstone headstones? Most of these stones are from the 1770s. I would appreciate any help given to this project.

    Mary Cardenas

    Orangetown Museum



  • 2.  RE: cleaning sandstone gravestones

    Posted 04-13-2021 10:29 AM

    Diane Gutenkauf
    Get Outlook for iOS



    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: cleaning sandstone gravestones

    Posted 04-14-2021 08:04 AM

    This group and website gives good advice on this subject and it is just too much to repeat it all here.

    Cleaning

    Cemetery Conservators for United Standards remove preview
    Cleaning
    Cleaning Basics Cleaning tombstones and monuments has become quite popular among many individuals and groups. Some groups do it as part of reading cemeteries to gather historical documentation or as a way to beautify a cemetery. Others are individual descendants doing much the same things. And other
    View this on Cemetery Conservators for United Standards >






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    Sharon F. Corey
    Pawleys Island, SC
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: cleaning sandstone gravestones

    Posted 04-15-2021 10:38 AM
    Hello Mary,

    i worked for a gentleman named Francis Miller in Hamden, CT who did many jobs on very old headstones.  https://conserve-art.com/about-us/team/
    it looks like Conserve ART has closed down, but his contact is here and he may still be fielding questions.

    best of luck!
    Alison

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    Alison Walsh
    Exhibitions Coordinator/Registrar
    New Haven CT
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: cleaning sandstone gravestones

    Posted 04-25-2021 11:58 AM
    Hi Mary,

    To clean the stone, have you tried using a product called Wet and Forget on the sandstone? It is a non invasive product that works with the sun and rain to dissolve the black mildew that grows on stone and other porous surfaces. It takes time for results, so it's not an overnight solution. Check with a stone conservator to be sure. https://www.wetandforget.com/wet-and-forget-concentrate.html

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    Jane Woltereck
    Registrar
    Baltimore Museum of Industry
    Baltimore MD
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: cleaning sandstone gravestones

    Posted 04-25-2021 12:53 PM

    DO NOT USE WET and FORGET! 

    I'm on a personal mission to stop the use of bleach and other dangerous
    products used on gravestones. There's a product sold as a masonry cleaner
    that is widely available called Wet and Forget. It's not a good product and is
    very harmful to the environment. D/2 is biodegradable and nontoxic. There
    are other masonry cleaners but D/2 is the best. That's not just my opinion
    but the view shared by professional conservators.



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    Sharon Corey
    Kaminski House Museum
    Pawleys Island
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: cleaning sandstone gravestones

    Posted 04-16-2021 12:20 PM
    Edited by Michelle Novak 04-16-2021 12:20 PM
    Hi Mary.

    I highly recommend contacting Ta Mara Conde at Historic Gravestone Services in New Salem, Massachusetts, http://historicgravestone.weebly.com

    Ta Mara is an expert in this area and knows our climate and pollution challenges in the region. (Assuming you are in Orangetown, Rockland County, NY-saw the Dutch show there a few years ago now! She will not know me by name but you can tell her that I sew her presentation at History Camp.)

    I also have some Bergen County, New Jersey, contacts I can reach out to (Dutch sandstone and all) but I would start with Conde.

    Feel free to reach out to me directly (m@mnd.nyc). 

    Michelle

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    Michelle Novak
    Brand Designer, Genealogical Trustee, Masters of Information Student
    Manhattan, NY
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: cleaning sandstone gravestones

    Posted 04-19-2021 08:45 AM
    this news article popped up in my feed today and seemed relevant 

    Mysterious Davidsonville grave cleaner discovered as BillionGraves.com amateur genealogist
    capitalgazette.com remove preview
    Mysterious Davidsonville grave cleaner discovered as BillionGraves.com amateur genealogist
    Public interest in genealogy - the study of family lineage and history - falls in and out of popularity in "spurts," said Tina Simmons, a 30-year member and cemetery committee chair of nonprofit Anne Arundel Genealogical Society.
    View this on capitalgazette.com >


    ------------------------------
    Diane Gutenkauf
    Former Executive Director
    Ella Sharp Museum Association of Jackson
    Jackson MI
    dgutenkauf@hotmail.com
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


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